The Redpill
by oopsidontusethisaccountanymore
Summary: It was a perfectly ordinary day at a perfectly ordinary high school. That is, until two demigods burst into the cafeteria, followed by the Minotaur and a horde of other deadly monsters. Post-TLO, HoO never happened, follows canon pairings, T for swearing
1. For lack of a better name, Chapter 1

It was, overall, a relatively normal day. Classes were boring as ever, Reese figured. He'd be doing homework until near midnight after school, check his Facebook maybe six or seven times an hour. Nothing new. Or at least, nothing new for a junior in high school.

Well, that's what he thought. Until lunch, that is.

Hungry teenagers piled into the cafeteria, shoving and elbowing to get to the food first. Reese followed the rest of his football team, joking with his friends in line, until he reached the front.

He had just picked up a carton of milk when the entire east wall of the cafeteria exploded, revealing the street behind it.

Everyone screamed bloody murder – he was pretty sure he heard himself hit a note he'd never known he could hit. Suddenly people were no longer racing each other to the food line – now the doors were jam-packed with students yelling about terrorist attacks and emergency procedures.

That's when the monster jumped through the open wall. By then, Reese was one of the few kids unlucky enough to not have reached the door yet. He'd shoved with all his strength – which was quite a bit, considering his position as left tackle – but no one had relented, and Reese had been unable to escape the cafeteria.

The few students left yelped, shouting things about giant trucks before once again rushing for the door. Reese, however stood paralyzed in place. This was no giant truck. It looked almost like... like that thing from the Labyrinth they'd been studying in history class. Er, not the David Bowie labyrinth. Like, what's-his-name's labyrinth. Dead-lus or something. What was this thing? Uh, no monsters in New York last he checked.

The monster growled, its bull-head swiveling to examine the ruins. Almost seconds later, two figures leaped through the gaping hole in the wall. What? He'd never seen them before. A dark haired boy and a blonde girl. The girl pulled a knife from her sleeve. Jeezus. what was she going to do with that, cut steak?

Instead, the girl caught Reese's eye. A shock of recognition flashed across her face.

"Percy! There's someone left!"

The boy turned his attention away from the monster at that, glancing at Reese. "Get him out of here. I'll handle this one."

Again, the dark-haired guy – Percy, Reese supposed - looked at the monster.

"Coming back a third time, eh?" he smirked. Percy pulled out a bronze pen from his pocket.

Reese turned to the blonde girl, who was now at his side.

"Look, dude, you need to get out of here. Our car accidentally ran into the wall, but we'll get it out of here in no time. Sorry!" She said calmly. Where was the urgency in her tone from a moment ago?

"What the hell is that thing?" he asked, grabbing her arm in a panic.

She pulled away immediately. "What is what? You can see it?"

"Yeah. The bull-man thing. It's from Greek Mythology, right? What the hell? This is New York! And where did you come from? Why does everyone else think it's a truck?" he started babbling, as Reese only did when he got nervous.

She paused, dread on her face. "No way. We're not _that_ unlucky." She pulled out that bronze knife again, and before he could even flinch away, she dragged it across his hand. The skin split open immediately.

"What the fuck! What is wrong with you, woman?" he exclaimed, pulling his hand away. It was seriously bleeding now.

"Oh, shit. You are..." the girl groaned. "Percy! He's one of us!"

Percy turned momentarily from the fight to examine Reese with a pair of sea-green eyes. "What? Oh, come on. That just ruined my day even _more_," he moaned.

Wait a second... was that a... sword? In the dude's hand? Why did they have deadly weapons... This was not New York City.

"Annabeth, help me finish off this guy."

"Got it!" The gray-eyed girl, Annabeth, turned back to Reese. "Stay here. No matter what. Don't help us out. Just stay. Do not run away. Wait for us."

"What the hell, you just split my hand open and now you want me to wait for you?" But before he had a chance to finish, she'd already taken that Percy guy's side beside the monster. Minotaur, right? That was the name. Oh, God, what was going on? But he would wait. Shit, he had to. This was too screwed up. They seemed to know what was going on way better than he did, and if they told him it was safer to wait... He didn't want to get hurt.

As Annabeth started fighting the monster, flitting from place to place like quickfire, stabbing here and dodging there, Percy ran over to Reese. He took one look at the hand, and cursed. But that wasn't English... was it?

"Who's your mom?" he asked randomly.

"What? Uh, you should probably be fighting that m-"

"Answer the fucking question!"

"She's a supermodel. Katy Shapiro. You can google her, jeez."

"Okay, then who's your dad?"

"What? I've never met him. Why do you want to know?"

"Oh gods, Annabeth was right... Okay. Here's what I need you to-" They were interrupted by a shriek from that Annabeth girl's direction. That monster had finally caught her, pinning her down. Now he was straightening up, raising his axe...

"Be right back," Percy said, racing with almost inhuman speed to block the Annabeth girl. Just as the Minotaur brought his axe down...

"You're dead!" Reese shouted.

But no... The axe just bounced harmlessly off that Percy's chest. What the hell? That should have killed him. And he wasn't wearing armor, was he?

Percy swiftly pulled out that bronze pen again and uncapped it, a three-foot long bronze blade growing from the pen. It glowed softly, like no metal Reese had ever seen. That was the sword he'd seen earlier. Percy took the sword, and before the monster had the chance to react to the failed axe-attempt, the guy had brought down the sword on the monster. In moments it turned into dust. Percy flinched slightly, then recapped his pen, as if this was "all in a day's work". Weirdo. Then he turned, collapsing on the ground next to the fallen girl.

"Are you okay, Annabeth? Παρακαλώ, be okay." Somehow, Reese knew that to mean "please".

The girl sat up, wincing. "The arm."

"Oh, come on, not again. That's your bad one, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Only this time, you took the axe for me."

What?

"Hah. I guess so. Didn't hurt much. It never does, you know."

"Come on, there's still the demigod to take care of."

Percy gingerly helped the girl up, being careful to use her other arm. They walked over to Reese.

"Dude, what the heck? I have to be in class now!"

"Yes, yes you do. At camp."

"What camp?"

"Annabeth..."

"I know. I can make it. Get out a drachma, and we can call Chiron."

"What about him?"

"We'll have to explain."

"No worries, I've done it a million times before."

And then, in an undertone, almost as if it wasn't for Reese to hear: "Annabeth, he's _sixteen_. Unclaimed. The gods haven't..."

"I know. They've broken their promise to you. We'll have to talk to Zeus."

What? Okay, so these were crazy people who believed in the Greek gods. Reese could comprehend the idea of insanity.

"Uh, by the way, I'm still right here."

"We know," Percy sighed. "Annabeth, I don't know if I could handle the Weird Sisters. Can we go by pegasi?"

"Percy, it's quicker."

"Yeah, but Blackjack could be here in a few minutes..."

"Okay, who the heck are you guys? No, seriously. I have to get to class. And I'm not going with you, whoever you are. What the hell is going on? Dude, this is New York. Seriously. You sliced my hand open. And do you always bicker this much?"

Both of them turned to look at Reese, as if they'd only recalled his existence.

"What do you mean, bicker?"

"We're just talking."

"Um, you guys are psychopaths. I think I'll just leave now," he said, but before he could move the blonde snatched his arm.

"Right. If we put him on a pegasus, he'll freak out."

"Oh, and seeing three chatterbox witches with one eye and one tooth between them isn't weird."

"So what, you suggest we walk?"

"Let's just focus on getting him to camp. We can figure it out."

The bickering was far from over, but these two weirdos eventually dragged Reese into a blue Prius not far from his blown up school.

"I'm calling 911. Seriously. Let me go! Kidnappers!" he exclaimed.

"Don't! It'll just send up a flare!" the Annabeth girl panicked.

"We can't stop him, Annabeth. They're already tracking us." Percy turned back to Reese. "Fine. Call 911. They won't be any help."

"Maybe I will."

Reese took the cellphone Percy offered him and dialed the police.

"Hello?" a bored-sounding operator answered.

"Yes, hello. I've just been kidnapped by a pair of teenagers who believe in Greek Mythology. They blew up my cafeteria and fought a giant bull-man. Um, yeah. We're in this Blue Prius now, heading down Fifth Avenue. I swear, they're psychopaths." Only saying it out loud did Reese realize how weird it was.

"Thank you for calling 911. We'll get back to you sometime soon."

And the line went dead.

"What did they say?"

"They didn't believe me. Fuck, what the heck are you guys doing? I need some explanations here. Are you kidnappers? Because I don't have any money on me, and my mom won't pay a ransom or anything."

"That's not it. You're in serious danger. More than you might realize."

"Yeah, because you two just fought a giant Minotaur in my cafeteria and are now carting me away to God-knows-where."

"No, because we have a rather lethal group of hellhounds, _dracanae_, and other friendly monsters on our tail," Percy corrected cheerfully. Reese faltered, the words sinking in.

"You're saying there are more of those... things?"

"Yup. We're taking you somewhere safe, Reese. You just have to trust us. We'll explain once we get rid of the monsters, okay? Can you wait that long?"

"Fine. So, you guys are like monster-fighting superheroes or something? And you're gonna get rid of those creatures?"

"In a nutshell, yes. Trust us, okay? We're on your side. We've both been in your position."

"Well, not exactly, because you were seven and I was twelve, but-"

"Shut up, Percy."

"Annabeth, they're closing in."

"Alleyway, right there. Get out of the public eye."

"On it." Percy swerved left down a relatively-hidden alley. Reese glanced out the back window once or twice, but he couldn't see any immediate danger.

They parked the car far down the alley.

"Whatever you do, stay in the car," Annabeth hissed in an undertone to the confused teenager as she and Percy leaped out of the Prius. They stood back to back in front of the car, both glancing at the open alleyway, as if watching for something.

Reese unbuckled himself, swiveling around to watch out the back window. Whatever was coming... Shit, what had happened to his normal day?

All at once, a horde of monsters started racing down the alley. What the hell? He took a closer look... And almost fainted. There were different kinds of monsters, giant black dogs like the one in that Sherlock Holmes (okay, so he was sort of well-read), women with scaly legs, skeletons with faintly-glowing bayonets. Aw, shit. What the hell did the duo of weirdos expect to do about this?

The Percy guy murmured something to Annabeth, and they split in opposite directions. She pulled out her knife once more, driving it into the ribcage of one of the black dogs with impressive speed. It exploded into dust, not unlike the bull-man in the cafeteria. Percy, on the other hand, uncapped that pen. Again, it grew to the full-length bronze sword. He swung and slashed, slicing apart monsters with every swipe.

Within three minutes, the only thing remaining in the alley was a blue Prius, an extremely confused teenager, and two demigods coated from head to foot in monster dust.

"What the hell was that? It was like super-ninja kickass! Straight from an action movie!" Reese burst out as the duo clambered back into the car, brushing the sand off their clothes.

"There goes the "Oh my gods they're psychopaths" attitude," Percy mumbled, making a U-turn and driving back onto the streets of Manhattan.

"But I still need an explanation. Are there more monsters? Are there more of... you guys? And why the hell do you need me? Can I just go back to school and pretend like none of this ever happened?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I've got a question for you. If you could just go back... Would you?"

He didn't have an answer for that.

**A/N: Apologies for the crap ending. More to come soon.**


	2. Reese takes the Redpill

Once out of the city, they drove for the longest time through countryside. It was a while before either of the drivers answered Reese's questions.

"You're going to believe we're crazy at first," Percy began.

"Like I don't already?"

"Point taken. But you have to believe us when we say that all of the following is true. You saw the monsters."

"So I assume all of this is actually happening, and not a figment of my imagination?"

"Yup."

Annabeth shifted to look at Reese. "You know all the old Greek stories, right? About Heracles and Arachne and whatnot."

"Sure. We've been studying that in History this year."

"Good. You'll need that information. Now think of it this way – all of those stories are real."

"What?"

"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades; they all exist."

"You're trying to tell me that Greek Mythology isn't just myths."

"Right. The gods are real. So is the Underworld. And all the monsters."

"Like the Hydra. Or the Minotaur-"

"Names have power. Don't throw them around carelessly," Annabeth warned, glancing at the rumbling sky. "But yes. Like them. You saw us fighting the Minotaur today. We'd been tracking him for a few days."

"I knew my luck wouldn't last," Percy muttered, his eyes still fastened on the road.

"What do you mean?" asked Reese.

"That's the third time Percy's fought the Minotaur. And he's only been doing this sort of stuff for five years."

"So, like, they come back to life?"

"Sort of. The Underworld exists, right? So when a monster is killed, it explodes into dust." For proof, Annabeth brushed a little monster dust out of her hair. "Its essence is sent to Tartarus, the prison for monsters and Titans. It comes back to life, but not on a routine schedule. Any monster can come back after a day, a year, a decade. Thousands of years can pass before one monster comes back. Percy and the Minotaur... don't exactly have a good relationship. We'd sort of been hoping this time that he'd stay in Tartarus for a hundred years or so."

"Oh. Okay." His brain was being overloaded. "So you guys go around killing these monsters and sending them back where they came from. Are there more of you?"

"Tons. We're trained at this camp, called Camp Half-Blood. That's where we're headed right now."

"Why am I coming?"

"It's the only safe place for you – for us. To survive. You're special like us, Reese. We've been keeping an eye on you for the past few weeks."

"So, it's like in the Matrix. Where I'm Neo. And I'm special, so you guys want me to take the redpill."

"Er, what is he talking about?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"No idea," she replied. "But yeah. You are special. You're one of us. And you have to learn how to fight monsters, or you'll die. It's a miracle you've survived this long as a mortal."

"A mortal? What does that mean? You talk about it as if... you're not."

"We're half mortal. Your mom, Reese. She's an ordinary human. But your dad..."

"He's dead. I've never met him."

"Not so, Reese. Your dad is a god."

A moment of silence filled the car while this sunk in.

"He can't be."

"It's true, Reese. My dad's a god too," Percy said.

Another moment for Reese to allow his head to wrap around this. "So, they're all Greek gods, right? Like Zeus, and Aphrodite, and Hermes. Stuff like that."

"Right. The twelve main Olympians. But your dad could also be a minor god too. Like Morpheus."

"So who is he?"

"We don't know yet. Last year, Percy - I mean, the gods agreed that they'd claim their children by the time the child turned thirteen. Like, let the kid know who their parent was. But you're sixteen. You haven't been claimed, and you haven't been killed. You're an anomaly, Reese. We have to find out what's going on."

"So who's your dad, then?" Reese asked Percy.

"Poseidon, god of the sea."

_Okay_, he thought. _I can handle that_. "And yours?"

"My dad's mortal," Annabeth said. "I don't see him that often."

"But..."

"My mom, however, is the goddess Athena."

"Wisdom, stuff like that."

"Right. It's not always the father that's the immortal parent. In your case, it is."

"You said you don't see your dad often?"

"I live at camp. Mortals can't enter it. Besides, he's in San Francisco. It just doesn't work out too well."

"So I take it I can't just go back to school now."

"Probably not. Now that you know who you are, your scent will be more noticeable to monsters. Before you can go back into the real world, you'll have to train."

"I don't get to say goodbye to my friends?"

"No. You can't let them know who you are."

"A half-god."

"We use the term demigod."

"Okay, a demigod. And my dad... where would he be now?"

"Well, the gods live on Mount Olympus."

"In Greece."

"Ah... here's where it gets confusing."

"Let me take over, Annabeth," Percy interjected. "Picture Western Civilization as this burning torch, okay?"

"Western Civilization?"

"Like, whatever country is most powerful at the moment. Right now, it's the USA. So the burning flame, right?"

"Right."

"Now, the gods are sort of attached to this flame. When the flame moves somewhere else, so do the gods."

"So wherever Western Civilization is, that's where the gods are."

"Exactly. It's so much easier explaining this to a competent sixteen year old than to a fourth grader. You're taking this quite well."

"So the gods live in the USA."

"Yeah. All the historical Greek locations are here. For example, the entrance to the Underworld is now in Los Angeles. And Mount Olympus is hovering over the Empire State Building, here in Manhattan."

"That's... wouldn't people – mortals - see it?"

"It's sort of hidden from sight. There's this thing called the Mist, see. Like a blanket over people's eyes. They only see what makes sense to them."

"Like a giant truck instead of a Minotaur," Annabeth added helpfully.

"That's why all my friends didn't see the bull-thing. But I did."

"The Mist is weaker over demigods," Percy explained. "Anyway, back to Western Civilization. Wherever it goes, the gods go. After the downfall of Greece, the gods lived in Rome for a while. Then Spain and England. They spent many centuries in England."

"And now they're here, in America," Annabeth concluded.

"Over the Empire State Building," Reese sighed.

"Do you understand?"

"One moment. It's... It's a lot to take in."

"I know. We've all been there."

"So everything is real. Hercules was real."

"Right. Son of Zeus."

"And Jason. And the Golden Fleece."

"Yeah. We could show you it, if you like."

"The Golden Fleece?"

"Sure. It protects Camp Half-Blood's borders."

"... Okay. Shouldn't it be in some historical museum, though?"

"Er..."

"Whatever. So you guys are heroes too, right? Like Hercules, and Jason, and Perseus."

"Right."

"Wait a second. Perseus, Percy. Oh my God!"

"Gods," Annabeth corrected automatically.

"Right. Percy, are you, like, the real Perseus?"

Percy and Annabeth both laughed, and Reese felt a twinge of stupidity.

"No, no I'm not. He died a long time ago. But yeah, my full name is Perseus. My mom thought it would be, like, good luck or whatever."

"Wasn't he a son of Zeus? And you said your dad was Poseidon."

"He's also one of the few heroes who survived his quests. My mom thought it might help me get a happy ending. I seem to be doing all right."

"You've come close to dying more than a few times, as I might recall," Annabeth said.

"Okay, whatever. So there are more of you, you said. At this camp. Who trains you?"

"We can explain more once we reach Half-Blood Hill. But Chiron, the ancient trainer of heroes, still leads camp. He's immortal."

"Right. The horse dude."

"Centaur, actually. And he's very sensitive about the nickname "horse dude", by the way."

"So how long have you been at this camp?"

"I ran away from home when I was seven," Annabeth said. "With a few demigod friends."

"When you were _seven_?"

"Yeah." She shrugged. "Camp Half-Blood was my home for five years."

"What happened when you were twelve?"

"I met Percy," she replied simply.

"Okay. So then, you came to camp when you were twelve, right?" Reese asked Percy.

"Exactly. Annabeth and I have been on numerous quests since then. Now we don't live at camp year-round. We go there when we're needed, or during the summer."

"I see." He was getting a sort of vibe that when they weren't at camp, these two were still spending a lot of time together. "But you look for new demigods to take to camp. Like me." He wasn't sure he wanted to believe them, but he would give them the benefit of the doubt. They saved his life, after all.

"Right, like you. Although you're the first one we've had in nearly a year who's over the age of thirteen."

"Why is that? The gods made some sort of a deal?"

"We can explain that later. For now, let's focus on getting you to camp and getting you trained." Annabeth glanced back, then saw Reese's cut hand. "Oh, gods, I forgot about the hand."

"Oh, it doesn't hurt much any more." Reese flexed it to test it out and winced. "Why did you cut me?"

"My knife is made of celestial bronze," she said, showing him the knife. "It's one of the only metals with an effect on monsters or immortal beings. Because demigods are half-gods, celestial bronze affects them too. But it doesn't harm mortals. I cut you because, if you were mortal, the blade would have gone right through your hand without hurting you. I had to see if you were a demigod or not, and it was the quickest thing I could think of under the circumstances. Here, eat this." She rummaged in her pocket before pulling out a crushed lemon square. "Be warned, it doesn't taste anything like lemon squares."

"Got it." He took a tentative bite. Ohh... It tasted like... like heaven. As he looked down at his hand, the cut scabbed over, then faded into a thin pink scar. "Whoa."

"Ambrosia squares. Food of the gods."

"Can I have some more?"

"Too much and you'll literally burn up. Like I said, it's meant for gods, not half-bloods."

Automatically, he flinched away from the godly food, dropping the ambrosia square.

"Annabeth, we're almost there," Percy informed them. Reese bent down to pick up the discarded ambrosia from the floor of the car. "Tell him about the other campers."

"Oh, yeah. So, Reese, like we've said there are tons of other demigods. Most of us live at Camp Half-Blood, but once we get older we go out into the world, get jobs, et cetera. You'd be surprised if I told you how many famous role models were actually demigods... Anyway, we live in cabins at camp. Cabins are divided up by godly parent. So, for example, I live with the other children of Athena."

"And Percy lives with the other children of Poseidon."

"Er, actually, I'm the only child of Poseidon. Well, the only demigod child."

"Why is that? And what do you mean by only _demigod_ child?"

"After World War II, the Big Three – Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades – made a pact not to have any more children with mortals. Children of the Big Three are just too powerful – too volatile, unpredictable-"

"Thanks, Wise Girl."

"Just stating the truth. Anyway, Zeus and Poseidon both broke that pact. Hades... Well, it's a long story. Anyway, Poseidon only broke the pact once – and voila, we get Percy. Last year, they dissolved the pact. Not that we're expecting any siblings of Percy to show up soon, but that's why he's the only one right now."

"As for the "demigod child" thing, gods can have children with other beings too – spirits, naiads, the like. My half-brother, Tyson, is a cyclops."

"Cyclopes are bad, right?"

"Not Tyson. But sometimes rogue cyclopes, yeah. Most of Poseidon's cyclops children live in his underwater palace, forging weapons and the like."

"I see. So most demigod kids – with the exception being Big Three kids – have half-siblings."

"Right. Cabins usually don't hate each other, but there are some rivalries. Like Athena and Ares, Apollo and Ares... Well, basically no one likes the Ares cabin."

"Why's that?"

"They get on people's nerves."

"Ares is... the god of war, right? That's pretty cool."

"He's not so nice in person," Percy said bitterly. Reese wondered if Percy had some sort of history with the god of war.

"Anyway, until you're claimed, you'll stay with the Hermes cabin. Hermes is the god of travelers, messengers, and thieves. He's not too picky about who he sponsors. Back when we had a lot of unclaimed kids at camp, they all lived in the Hermes cabin. Used to be pretty darn crowded. But that hasn't happened at all in the past year... I'm sure Connor and Travis won't be thrilled..." Annabeth mumbled. "Speaking of which, don't trust the Hermes counselors. Ever."

"Got it. Don't trust Hermes, don't trust Ares. Anything else?"

"We had a lot of casualties last year. If someone says a camper is dead, just _don't_ _ask_. You usually don't want to know."

"Okay. So... Crash course for the rest of my life – the gods are real, I won't see my family for another several months, I have a ton of brothers and sisters I don't know about, my dad's a god, and monsters always want to kill me."

"And never use a cell phone, if you can help it."

Reese's eyes widened. "No texting?"

"It basically sends up a flare to every monster in the area, saying 'Hey, look! You've got a free lunch ticket over here! Come and get me!'" Percy explained. "We're here."

They parked at the base of a steep hill, and all three got out. Percy kept glancing behind him, as if worried that some of those monsters were still following them.

"What were those things anyway?" Reese asked. Percy looked at him quickly, as if snapping out of a reverie.

"What were what?"

"The monsters you fought."

"Hellhounds. Skeletons. Nothing special."

"Nothing special! If you weren't there, I'd have been killed by that Minotaur in seconds. Well, come to think of it, if you weren't there I'd probably be in Algebra class right now."

"No more Algebra for you," Annabeth said, climbing the hill. "Which reminds me. I bet you've been kicked out a few schools, haven't you?"

"That was a long time ago. How did you know about that? I haven't blown up a school in years!"

"Hah! You sound like Percy," Annabeth laughed. "Oh, and let me guess... You've been diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, or both."

"Both. How do you know all this about me?"

"Most demigods can't stay in a school very long – they cause problems. As for the disorders, you can't read well because your brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek. Trust me, when you start reading Greek, it'll get a lot easier. And the ADHD is just battle reflexes," Percy explained. "It's saved my life more times than I can count."

Reese was about to answer, but that's when they crested the hill. "Whoa," he said reflexively. Spread out before them was a huge camp, complete with cabins in the distance, buildings scattered here and there, and a forest.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth said, as if it was a line she'd had to say many times. "That's the Golden Fleece, if you were wondering." She nodded to a pine tree a few meters away, with a, well, golden sheep's fleece hanging off the lowest branch. A large serpent thing was coiled around the base.

"What the hell!" Reese exclaimed, cringing away from the dragon.

"Oh, that's just Peleus. He guards camp. He's friendly... usually," Percy said assuredly. "Come on, let's introduce you to Chiron."

"Chiron. That's the centaur guy, right? The one who runs this camp."

"Yeah, that would be him."

"Then we better get going."


	3. Reese talks to a horse

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Chiron, activities director here at Camp Half-Blood. I'm sure Percy's mentioned me."

"You're not a centaur," Reese stuttered, taking the seat offered to him. Percy and Annabeth had dropped him off at this odd blue house with the promise that they'd be back to show him around, then promptly disappeared. He stared at the man in the

wheelchair sitting in front of him, wondering how this man was supposed to be the immortal trainer of heroes the duo had mentioned.

"Ah, I see. No, I am not a centaur at this very moment. I prefer this form when speaking to new recruits. It is less, er, overwhelming. However, if you like I am happy to change." Chiron seemed to almost stand up (but wasn't he in a wheelchair?), but he

wasn't quite standing... He kept getting taller and taller, until... Within moments, the man in the wheelchair was in full-fledged centaur mode. "Now, that is nice to stretch my legs for a moment. I must apologize that our true camp director, Mr. D, was

summoned to Olympus. Zeus needed some affairs taken care of, it would seem..." The centaur seemed to catch Reese's momentarily confused expression. "I see Percy has not mentioned our camp director. Mr. D, or rather Dionysus, was sent to this camp as

punishment for something he did many years ago. He is the director for another, oh, ninety five years or so. As an immortal, this is nothing. But he does not enjoy his, what does he call it? Prison sentence."

"Dionysus... Isn't that, like, the god of wine?"

"I see you know some Greek mythology. Good, that will make this much easier. Well, we've got an orientation film, but I suppose you've already learned some from Percy and Annabeth. It was a rather unconventional way of bringing you to camp... Usually a

\seeker finds new recruits – a satyr, that is. Well, no matter. You're here, you're safe, and you need to get better acquainted with the camp. I can call for Grover, if you'd like. Since you had no seeker guide, he'd be happy to substitute."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, you see, usually half-bloods do not bring other demigods to camp. Percy and Annabeth happened to run into you. Satyrs – half goats, in Greek mythology – are often sent out to schools to find unclaimed demigods. So, you see, you never had a satyr

guiding you to camp. Grover is a satyr, one of Percy's good friends. He'd be happy to tour you through camp."

"Oh, that's fine. Um, Percy said he would."

"Percy is more busy than you might imagine, Reese. But if you want a tour, you can find him."

"Where would he be? I don't know my way around..."

"I have an archery class to teach. Perhaps another camper will guide you to Percy."

Chiron rather unhelpfully reentered the blue house, leaving Reese alone on the porch. After a moment, he leaned out over the railing. It looked like there was a basketball court in the distance, with some teenagers shooting hoops. Maybe they could help him

find Percy... He jogged over there. Four or five boys were playing, and one girl.

"Um... Excuse me? I'm new here," Reese began. All of the teenagers stopped. "Are you guys demigods?"

"You're _new_? You can't be thirteen..."

"No, I'm, uh, sixteen."

"What is going on? Percy can't have..."

"I thought Zeus was listening to Percy now..."

"Percy made them swear on the _Styx_..."

"Shouldn't he have been claimed? Percy made the age..."

"Look, I am actually looking for Percy. Um, where would he be?"

"Percy Jackson? Where he always is. The sword training arena, duh," one of the guys said, shooting a basket.

"I'm new. I don't exactly..."

"Here," the girl said, coming forward. She held out a bronzed hand, which he shook. "I'm Nyssa. Daughter of Hephaestus. I can show you."

"Okay, Hephaestus. I can handle that."

"What? Oh, yeah. I bet you're still new to the whole Greek gods thing. No problem. We've all been there."

"That's what everyone says."

"It's because everyone has. So, who's your godly parent?" she asked, making small talk as they wandered off the court.

"I don't know. Like they said, um, I haven't been claimed."

"Oh, right. That's so weird... Percy'll have to go talk to the gods... I'm sure he's just as mystified as everyone else. They promised..."

"I have no idea why everyone is making such a big deal of this. And why does everyone keep talking about this Percy guy like he's some celebrity?"

Nyssa raised an eyebrow. "Uh, maybe because he _is_. Look, I can't exactly explain it. That's for Percy Jackson to do. But he basically made this deal with the gods last year, after he saved – oh, whatever. Ask him about it. The sword arena is that way, and

then to the left. You'll find him there. If not, try the Poseidon cabin."

He was about to ask where that was, but she was already gone.

Well, here goes nothing, Reese thought, and entered the arena.

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. :\**


	4. The Stoll brothers trade names

As it turned out, that Percy guy was in the arena. Slicing several dummies open at once. It was sort of an odd pastime, but Reese dismissed it. This had been an odd day.

"Um, Percy?"

"Oh, hey. Reese, right?" Jeez, how could the guy forget Reese's name? He'd just spend an entire day saving Reese's life.

"Yeah."

"Sorry. We get a lot of new campers – after a while it's hard to remember each name. What's up?"

"I needed a tour. You said you'd show me around."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

Percy pulled on his sword, which was currently skewering a dummy through the heart. After a few tugs, he uprooted the dummy from its stand, unable to get the sword out. "Fetch, Mrs. O' Leary," Percy said. Mrs. O' Leary? There was no one else around. Percy flung the dummy off his sword to the other end of the arena. But just before it hit the ground, a huge black mastiff literally materialized from the shadows and caught it.

"What the hell!" It was one of those creatures from earlier today... A hellhound, right? He thought this camp was supposed to be safe.

"Hades, actually. Not hell. Same thing, really, but..." Percy said calmly. "Oh, and this is my pet, Mrs. O' Leary. Yeah, she's a hellhound. But she's good."

"Shouldn't it be a Hadeshound then, if Hades is the same thing as hell?"

Percy laughed. "Yeah, very funny."

The hellhound, Mrs. O' Leary, dropped the soggy dummy at Percy's feet. He gingerly picked it up, before tossing it again in her direction.

"Get the Greek!" he said sort of halfheartedly, before turning back to Reese. "Sorry about that. She scares most of the newcomers. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

"Thanks. This is weird. It's like, two hours ago I was sitting in the cafeteria with my friends, no idea that this world even existed."

"It's rough at first. You'll get used to it."

"How long did it take you?"

"That's a difficult question to answer. Maybe when I met the oracle."

"What?"

"Not what, _who_. But I met her back when she was still a creepy hippie mummy. Now she's... Well, I wish I could introduce you guys, but Rachel's still at school."

"You have an oracle named Rachel?"

"Yup. She's damn good at her job too."

"Um, okay. This day is just getting weirder and weirder."

"It's a long story."

"Isn't everything? Like, how when I ask about this pact with the gods about the claiming at thirteen and stuff, everyone just says "It's a long story. Talk to Percy." I don't get it."

"Well, it is a pretty long story."

"You're not just another demigod, are you? Nyssa acted like you were some sort of celebrity."

Percy turned a little red, which seemed weird. He didn't seem like the blushing sort of guy. "I sort of... saved the world last year."

Reese hesitated a moment, wondering if Percy would say "NOT!" or "Just kidding! Got you there!", but nothing happened.

"And in reward, the gods offered me immortality."

"So you're immortal now?"

"Nope. I turned it down."

Reese stopped, staring at him. "You turned down _immortality_?"

"Yeah. I had some more... important priorities. Anyway, they still allowed me one wish. I made them swear on the River Styx... No more unclaimed kids trying to claw their way to Camp Half-Blood. No more kids stuck in Hermes cabin as "undetermined". They had to claim their kids and get them to Camp Half-Blood by the time they turned thirteen. And the gods have kept their end of the deal all year."

"But then I came along."

"Precisely. And we don't know what's wrong. So I'm gonna have to go to Olympus tomorrow and talk to Zeus. It's actually relatively convenient, since Annabeth is headed there anyway to work on the reconstruction..." He trailed off, glancing in the direction of the cabins.

"What do you mean?"

"My girlfriend's an architect. After the war last summer, Olympus sort of got... wrecked, I guess you could say. Annabeth's rebuilding it."

"Oh. Cool."

"Yeah. She's really jazzed about it. Anyway, back to the tour. That was the sword-fighting arena, obviously. Over there is the armory... That's where Hephaestus kids work, usually. But let me show you the cabins."

"So, you said each cabin has kids who are siblings. Each cabin would be dedicated to a specific god or goddess and their kids, then. Right?"

"Right. We had to add on eight new cabins this year for minor gods, thanks to the deal I made last summer."

"Because you saved the world."

"Yeah. So if we go through here, you can see the cabins for goddesses are on the right, and gods on the left. With the exception being the Dionysus cabin, since there's a disparage of gods to goddesses on Olympus. Hermes cabin is over there. That's where you'll be staying, at least until they figure out who your dad is."

"And that's what used to happen a lot. Right?"

"You're catching on quickly. So we should probably go talk to Connor and Travis, and then if you don't mind I need to swing by the Iris cabin too."

"Iris?"

"Goddess of rainbows. She also serves as a sort of messenger for the gods."

"I thought that was Hermes."

"Yeah. But Iris... Well, if she heard me saying this she'd kill me but she's kind of like Skype. She lets you, well, I suppose "video-chat" people anywhere in the world."

"This is really hard to take in."

"We've got an orientation video. I'm sure Chiron could show you that. Let's finish the tour first. So these are the cabins. Over this way are the showers and toilets – heh, I'm sure Clarisse will be happy to see you – and past that is the canoe lake. We don't really need to go over there. This way to Hermes," Percy said, guiding Reese into a sort of run-down looking cabin. There were maybe eight kids of all different ages in the cabin, from the little redhead girl playing solitaire in the corner to the tall, elvish looking boy sharpening a knife on one of the bunkbeds. Two curly-haired brothers came forward. They looked like twins, but one was clearly older than the other.

"Hey, Percy," one of them said.

"Connor. Travis. I've got a new member of your cabin here. His name is Reese."

"Oh, cool. Nice to meet a new brother," the other said (was it Travis or Connor?).

"Undetermined, actually," Percy said absently. In response to the weird looks the twins gave him, he added, "Yeah. I'm going to Olympus tomorrow to check it out."

"Weird. Well, you're the first undetermined over the age of thirteen we've had in almost a year. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Travis, and this here is my brother Connor," one of them said, sticking out a hand for Reese to shake.

"Sorry, my brother's a mischief maker. I'm Travis, actually, and he's Connor," said the other.

"Travis, Connor..."

"What?" asked Travis/Connor innocently.

"Yeah, jeez, Percy. Can't we have a little fun?" jested Connor/Travis.

"I told you not to trust the Hermes counselors," Percy said in an undertone.

"What? You said that about us? And after all we've done for you, Perce," Travis/Connor tutted.

"Yeah. You've done so much for me. You know, I really needed centipedes in my-"

"Okay, you should probably head out now," Connor/Travis interrupted, nudging Percy out the door. "We'll introduce Reese to the cabin."

"I still need a tour of camp," Reese protested, a little nervous about being alone with those two.

"Fine. Come by later, then," muttered Connor/Travis.

"I have to go talk to Annabeth. She borrowed some blueprints, and..." Percy trailed off, one foot out the cabin door.

"Cool. I can get someone else to show me around," Reese said, trying to sound nonchalant. He wasn't totally used to this whole half-god thing, and if anyone could help him out, it would be this Percy dude, but he didn't want to seem dependent.

"Oh, and Percy?" one of the girls in the Hermes cabin asked, nudging her way past the Stoll brothers. "Are you teaching the swordfighting class later?"

"What?" Percy asked absently, his head turned in the direction of cabin six. "Oh, oh yeah. I'll be there."

"Cool. One of my friends is new, and he was just sort of wondering..."

"Great. Oh, and Reese? If you're not too overwhelmed, maybe you could stop by the sword-fighting class too. It's never too early to start training," Percy suggested, before turning and jogging off in the direction of the Athena cabin.

"Got it! Thanks!" Reese said, and then turned mournfully to greet his new cabinmates.


	5. Swordplay Class with Percy Jackson

"Rule #1 of swordplay – never, ever, EVER let down your guard."

Reese looked around the arena at the other demigods. Yeah, right. He'd be able to beat these kids any day, on guard or not. Most of them were probably under twelve. Now, Percy... that was another story. He'd never be able to take this guy. After seeing

what Percy Jackson did to those monsters yesterday, Reese wouldn't want to face him sword-to-sword.

The demigod in question stood right in front of him, actually, teaching the newbies sword-fighting class. He leaned on his three-foot bronze sword's hilt, surveying the class of new demigods. Reese recognized a few kids from the Hermes cabin, and some

others he'd seen around camp. One looked a bit like that girl, Annabeth, with blonde hair and gray eyes.

"Now, I take it most of you don't have weapons yet," Percy said. "For how many of you is this your first week at camp?"

Reese raised his hand, along with five or six other half-bloods. It was his first full day, actually. He'd started out the morning with shaving cream in his sleeping bag (a "welcome gift" from the head Hermes counselors), and then ate breakfast with his cabin. He

was getting used to the strange traditions at Camp Half-Blood. Everyone believed in the gods and donated some of their meals to their patron. He'd sent a silent thank-you to Hermes for granting him shelter in the cabin, and because he didn't know who to

pray to yet. Percy had promised to take Reese up to Olympus this afternoon to see what was going on, and maybe at the end of the night he'd know who his godly parent was. He hoped it wasn't one of the sissy gods or goddesses, like Aphrodite or

Dionysus (a few campers had described the wine god to him, and, well, Mr. D didn't seem like a very cool guy). Hephaestus might be cool, or Ares, or maybe Athena. But somehow he couldn't imagine himself as Annabeth's brother, nor as that girl Nyssa's. He

didn't really know where he fit.

"All right," continued Percy, "I've taught you a bit about sword-fighting, but first, you all need swords." In the corner of the arena stood a small weapons shack, which Percy led his students over to. "Who's the tallest here?" he asked, digging around in the

shack.

"Probably me," Reese said quietly, then cleared his through and repeated it louder.

"Here, take this sword. Having a long reach is always the advantage in a sword match." Percy offered Reese the handle of a long, heavy bronze sword. It felt okay in his hands, pretty well-balanced, but he didn't know what to expect – he'd never held a

sword before.

"Of course, a small weapon helps you stay light on your feet," Percy reassured the shorter kids. "Here's a shortsword. These are pretty handy. They're a little different than knives, but they work in similar ways. Who would like to try one of these?"

Percy continued to pass out weapons. "This is my sword, Anaklusmos," he said at the end, turning his sword in hand to reflect the sunlight. "Better known as Riptide. Celestial bronze is the best material for demigod weapons. Of course, I've also seen other

weapons partially made of mortal steel, like Kronos's scythe."

Reese shivered. He'd heard a few things about the titan lord, and it still amazed him that Percy Jackson had _defeated_ him.

"Now, I want to show a few things about the different weapons. Does anyone want to try dueling?"

A brave ten-year-old stepped forward, thin bronze sword in hand.

"Okay, cool. Sabers are fast and nimble weapons, but they require a lot of force to much damage. For example, if I do this..." Percy pressed the flat of his blade against the girl's saber, applying a bit of pressure, and the saber immediately bent back. "They

don't hold up under pressure from real blades. Instead of messing around with parrying blows, you need to learn how to dodge blades. If I do this..." Percy lifted his sword above his head with two hands and started to bring it down on the girl. Reese would

have immediately lifted his sword to block, but the girl ducked out of the way instead.

"Nice job," Percy congratulated. "And if I take a swing from this point..."

Again, the girl jumped back out of the way, landing lightly on the balls of her feet.

"You're light on your feet. Daughter of Hermes?"

She nodded, and Reese realized that he recognized her – she had a top bunk in his cabin.

"Okay, next?" Percy asked. A tall boy stood, maybe thirteen years old. This one had a longer sword, similar to Riptide. "Try blocking me." They swung back and forth at each other for a few minutes, blocking and attacking. Percy juked out of the way of a

particularly fast jab, but the boy overextended his sword and lost balance.

"Right, this is a good example of a teaching moment," Percy said once the boy had righted himself. "When you have a heavy sword, like Reese on the end, for example," Percy pointed to Reese, "you have to be careful. You've got a large reach, for sure, but if

you reach too far your body's counterweight won't help anymore and you'll lose balance. Keep your weight under you at all times." He placed his feet firmly on the ground as an example, digging his heels into the sandy floor. "Next?"

This time Reese stepped up, hefting his sword from one hand to another.

"Now, in this fight I've got the disadvantage of a shorter sword, so I've got to get in close." Percy ducked and jabbed at Reese's midsection, and Reese barely managed to get up his guard in time. Man, this guy was fast. Reese pushed Riptide back and

returned with a swipe of his own, which Percy easily dodged.

"Try again, you've got to keep being original if you want to get a hit in," Percy said with a slash at Reese's shoulder. Reese leaped to the side and lifted his heavy sword over his head, preparing to bring it down on Percy. Percy lifted his sword just in time to

block it. They stood there, swords locked just over Percy's shoulder. Percy placed his free hand on the flat of his blade to add more pressure and finally managed to push Reese's sword away.

"You're strong, I'll give you that. Brute force is important, but technique is too."

"You're going easy on me, aren't you?" grunted Reese, swinging at Percy.

"Of course; it's only your first lesson. Here, let's pause and give someone else a chance to spar."

Reese dropped his strike and stepped back into the line with the younger students.

"But Reese did great," said Percy. "He put up a very good offensive. This is important; you can't win a battle by just blocking blows. You've got to attack, which Reese did very well."

Percy's eyes lingered on Reese a moment longer, as if trying to puzzle something out, and then shifted his gaze to the other students. "Right, you guys have learned a lot for today. We'll just-" Percy stopped, seeing something behind the kids, and Reese

turned to look. There was Annabeth, jogging into the arena with a few rolled-up scrolls in hand.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

Annabeth jogged over to her boyfriend and leaned closer to him, gripping the front of his shirt and whispering something in his ear. He nodded, taking a glance at the scrolls in her hands.

"Okay, okay," he murmured. "We can take care of that later, but I'm sort of in the middle of-"

"Right," Annabeth said with a sheepish smile, stepping back and letting go of Percy's shirt.

"Everybody, this is Annabeth, daughter of Athena, architect of Olympus. I'm sure you've seen her around camp-"

"Are you guys dating?" one of the youngest girls asked. A few of the older kids shushed her.

Both Percy and Annabeth turned beetred. "Well, yes, but that's not the po-"

"Can you demonstrate what a fight looks like?" Reese suggested. Anything to get away from the awkward subject.

Percy shot him a grateful look. "Yeah! Annabeth's a great fighter."

"Better than you," she said with a light punch to his upper arm.

"She fights with a knife," Percy explained, pointing to Annabeth's weapon. "It's very different than fighting with a sword, and not exactly what we're studying, but it works. The difference is similar to a shortsword – because of the shorter range, you have to

get in closer to attack, and you have to be faster."

They stood, sword-to-knife, before Percy lunged at her left side. She spun out of the way and ducked in to aim for his throat, but he knocked her knife away easily. They were clearly evenly matched. Annabeth twisted around behind her boyfriend and went

for his upper spine, but he turned at the last second to block. Then he swiped at her shoulder, which she sidestepped, leaving his sword biting the dust. The duel continued like this for several minutes, both moving so fast they sometimes blurred. Reese

couldn't quite tell who was winning, but he was definitely seeing some good techniques on both sides that he'd have to remember.

Annabeth slashed at Percy's right shoulder and he was too slow to dodge. The knife met with flesh and Reese winced, sure Percy's arm would be cut clean off, but no blood flowed. A murmur rushed through the crowd of students as the duel continued

unabated. It was as if neither had noticed the contact. As the fight continued, Reese saw Annabeth's knife strike Percy again and again, but nothing changed. Was the blade dull? It seemed almost normal for them, as if this was just another part of dueling.

Then Reese remembered back in his cafeteria, when the Minotaur's axe had simply rebounded off Percy's chest, as if he had been wearing armor. What was that?

Another swing almost landed on Percy's chest, but he managed to block. The pressure from his sword was enough to finally twist the knife out of Annabeth's hand, and the sparring match was over.

"Nice match," Percy sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Annabeth bent down to pick up her knife, shook her boyfriend's outstretched hand, and then grabbed her scrolls again.

"Yeah, it was fun to get a little exercise, but I should probably head out. Good luck, guys!" She saluted the class and jogged back out of the arena again. Reese watched her leave, as did all the other students.

"She's really something, isn't she?" Percy said, grinning stupidly. He blinked twice, shook his head, and turned back to his class. "Right. Anyway, you guys can learn to fight like that, if you keep at it."

One of the boys cleared his throat. "She kept hitting you with her knife, but you're not injured."

Percy laughed. "I guess you guys saw that."

"How do you _do _that?" "Are you wearing armor?" "Can we be invincible too?" "Is her blade dull?" Everyone started talking at once.

"Hey," Reese said loudly. Then, louder. "Hey! HEY! Guys, be quiet!"

"Thanks, Reese," Percy said. "And yeah, it's pretty cool. I guess you guys are too new to know much about the Titan War, but last summer I took a dip in the River Styx."

"_The_ River Styx? In the Underworld?" one kid asked.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, the same one Achilles was dipped in. My friend Nico took me down there. Maybe some of you guys know him, son of Hades? He only shows up at camp occasionally. Anyway, if you swim in the Styx, you become impervious to injury,

except in one weak spot. I did it so I could battle Kronos without him being able to hurt me easily. The curse of Achilles saved my life many, many times, but now I'm stuck with it."

"Where's your weak spot?" one girl asked.

Percy grinned crookedly. "Like I'd tell you that."

"So that's why Annabeth didn't go easy on you at all."

"Yeah, she knew I wouldn't get hurt. It makes for a different sparring style, when you're sparring someone who can't get hurt. Especially if you're actually trying to kill them, like in battle, you have to try to aim for as many different spots as possible to find

their weak spot." Then Percy stopped. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you all that."

Reese grinned, raising his sword. "Attack!"

All of the students lifted their weapons and charged the instructor, ready to find his weak spot.

"No! I didn't mean to try and find it by guess and check right now!" Percy shouted, but the kids, Reese included, still chased him all the way out of the arena and around camp.

He had to jump into the lake to get rid of them.


	6. Demigod Business

It was strange, walking around downtown Manhattan after three days at Camp Half-Blood. Everything seemed different now that Reese knew about the secret world of Greek gods and demigods. The people, the shops, the buildings, they all seemed so normal.

And now that he was part of this clandestine world, there was no going back to before.

"I remember my first time out of camp," Percy said, reading Reese's mind. "I kept staring at every McDonald's, every car, like it was something out of a dream. Annabeth made fun of me for it."

"Of course, I hadn't been out of camp in a long time either," Annabeth reminded him.

"Three days seems like forever," sighed Reese.

"That's about how long the Battle of Manhattan took." Annabeth's gray eyes clouded over.

"Speaking of which, there's Olympus. Did you remember the blueprints, Annabeth?"

She rummaged in her bag and resurfaced shaking a few small white scrolls. "Got 'em right here. I hope the minor gods are satisfied with their temples."

Reese felt awkward around these two, like a third wheel. It's similar, he thinks, to his two best friends back at school, who got together freshman year.

God – gods – his friends! What must they be thinking? He disappeared off the face of their planet three days ago. And his mom. All the homework piling up from teachers...

"Am I ever going to be allowed back to normal school?" Reese asked.

Percy shrugged. "Depends how dangerous you are, if you can survive in the mortal world."

"Probably, though. Percy does it, and he's one of the most powerful demigods there is."

"Didn't stop the gods from breaking their deal." He pushed open the door to let Reese and Annabeth through, like a real gentleman.

Reese sighed. He'd never even hold a candle to this guy. It wouldn't have even crossed his mind to open the door for a girl, and he was no good at sword-fighting. His dad wasn't Poseidon (or at least, he doesn't think so). He didn't have a beautiful girlfriend. Dammit, how did this guy end up with everything?

"Six-hundredth floor, please," Annabeth addressed the man behind the counter.

He looked up from his book. "Hello, Annabeth. Mr. Jackson." His eyes skimmed awkwardly over Reese, trying to come up with a name and finding none. "More temple designs?" He nodded to the scrolls in Annabeth's hands.

"Yeah, and some, um... demigod business."

The man raised an eyebrow, but handed her the key to the elevator anyway.

It was surprising, Reese realized, how he'd lived in New York City all his life and never been to the Empire State Building. Sure, he'd seen it, but his mom had never wanted to go on a tour. Maybe it was because of his dad.

The muzak in the elevator was terrible. Percy cringed several times at the singer's wail, probably something from the 80s.

"I hate this stuff," Percy muttered.

The elevator just kept moving, and Reese wondered if it would ever stop. They must be far beyond the top floor... But then he remembered Annabeth mentioning something about 600 floors. Maybe...

Finally the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

"Welcome to Olympus," Percy said.

Whoa.

This place was incredible! A marble path over the open sky led from the elevator to a large pavilion. The pavilion was filled with all sorts of creatures, humanoid and other, things Reese had never even imagined. Satyrs, those donkey-humans he'd seen around camp, and some centaurs like Chiron, but then taller men and women too, who glowed the color of sunlight. In the distance he could see a large crop of temples, and several more under construction, but the largest temple of all towered over the entire mountain.

In the midday light, the whole place looked grand. "You _designed_ this?" he asked, turning to Annabeth.

"Just bits and pieces of it. The temples. Some of the other buildings, the layout."

"It's fantastic."

She smiled, and for some reason this made him blush. "Thanks."

"_She's_ fantastic," corrected Percy, wrapping an arm around Annabeth's waist.

For a moment they just stood in the elevator, admiring the city, before Annabeth stepped out. "Right. We've got a job. Percy, I don't know if any of the gods will be here right now. They're pretty busy."

"If we can't find any now, we can come back later. Besides, your mom said she would be here to receive your blueprints, right?"

"Do you _really_ want to talk to Athena?"

Percy pulled his arm away from Annabeth's waist, imagining the spectacle. "On second thought, let's hope Zeus is here."

"What's wrong with Athena?" Reese asked, following them out of the elevator. Naturally, the marble path is just wide enough for two people, leaving him tagging on behind.

Percy tossed a laugh over his shoulder. "Nothing. She's genius and all. We're just not especially... close."

"You could say that again," said Annabeth. "Poseidon and Athena hate each other, remember?"

"Right. Greek Mythology 101. So how on earth did you two ever become friends?"

"It's a long story."

"Everything is," Reese grumbled.

"Hey, to make matters short, Athena doesn't like me. And she _really_ doesn't like me dating her daughter."

"Are there any gods that _do_ like you? You talked about Dionysus, Ares, now Athena..."

Percy cocked his head to this side to think about this. "My dad. Artemis was cool. Apollo..."

"He got a lot more popular after he saved the world," Annabeth added.

"I did not! I barely did anything. Really it was you, Annabeth, you and Grover and-"

"The point is, they spared his life several times over again, despite how much of a Seaweed Brain he is. Some of them must be fond of him."

"Just not Athena," Reese said.

"Right."

They passed through the square, weaving by nature spirits and minor gods, even a few demigods by the looks of it. It took a few more minutes to reach the largest temple, but when they did, Reese's jaw dropped.

Gigantic marble columns shot straight from the ground, ornately decorated at the top with gold and several other precious metals Reese didn't recognize. The pediment depicted all twelve Olympian gods, plus a small Hestia poking a fire in the left corner. Zeus stood in the middle, lightning bolt and all, a bold expression on his carved face.

"Did you do this?" he asked Annabeth.

She promptly burst out laughing. "Me? Design something like _this_? No way. Olympus has been around for eons. I've just done some of the newer reconstruction work. I think this pediment was done some time around 450 B.C. by either Myron or Polykleitos, I can never remember which..."

"Here she goes again." Percy rolled his eyes, leading Reese deeper into the temple.

Twelve thrones formed a U shape in the center of the giant throne room, each about twenty feet tall. They were an odd mish-mash of thrones, from those woven of grass and flowers to one made of pure gold that shone like the sun. But even odder were the people sitting in the thrones.

In the very center of the U, one man relaxed in his throne. He had electric blue eyes and dark black hair with just a few grays, and his expression was far from pleased. Farther down the semicircle two women sat side by side, whispering in hushed tones. One, a blonde-haired, gray-eyed woman, Reese assumed was Athena. The other looked much younger, with auburn hair and a silvery ensemble. The color was something Reese couldn't quite place... It wasn't a tangy silver, but softer, lighter. The opposite of the sharp, sunny throne across the room. If that was the sun, then this goddess was the moon.

"Zeus," Percy addressed the god, bowing deeply. Annabeth did the same, gestured sharply for Reese to follow.

They then turned to the goddesses. "Lady Athena. Lady Artemis."

"Hello, Annabeth," Athena said, cold eyes still fixed on Percy. Wow, this woman really did hate him.

"What brings you here?" Zeus asked, leaning forward in his throne.

Annabeth held out her scrolls. "The designs for the temples of the minor gods. Sir."

Athena waved her hand the the scrolls disappeared. "We'll get the Cyclops working on them by nightfall."

"Thank you, Mother."

"You did not bring Percy Jackson and Reese Shapiro to Olympus to deliver some blueprints," Zeus said.

Percy stepped forward. "You're right, sir. Reese here is an unclaimed demigod."

The Lord of the Sky's eyebrows furrowed. "Impossible."

"Exactly. We were hoping you could... perhaps... explain?"

"I have not broken my promise, and neither have my sisters and brothers and children."

"We don't doubt that, Lord Zeus," Annabeth said. "But Reese is sixteen years old. Percy and I just discovered him a few days ago while we were chasing the Minotaur."

Athena raised a delicate eyebrow. "Is your mortal parent your father or mother, boy?"

"M- my mom," Reese stuttered out. Damn, he'd just been addressed by a _goddess_!

"What god could have possibly broken our promise? We swore on the Styx," Artemis says. "All the gods were present, excepting those siding with Kronos, and they were forced into swearing later. One would have had to been incapacitated for the last several months to avoid claiming this demigod."

Athena and Zeus exchanged a nervous glance. "Could it be-"

"He certainly looks like it."

"But one would think-"

Percy coughed loudly. "Sir, it's clear something is going on, but if you might just explain..."

Zeus shot an angry look Percy's way. "Quiet, hero. It is not your place to speak to me that way."

Percy nodded, not daring to open his mouth, not even to apologize.

Artemis leaned forward, squinting at Reese. He flinched under her critical gaze. "Definitely one of his."

"One of whose?" Reese ventured to ask.

"There is a reason your father never claimed you," Athena said coldly.

"My father?"

"Ares, god of war, is missing."


	7. A quest

Ares.

His dad was _Ares._

Reese still couldn't quite adjust to this new information, even after he'd been moved into Cabin Five. It made sense, he supposed, and he liked Ares. Ares fought for what he believed in. He fought for his family. He fought for humans. He, well, basically he just fought for the sake of fighting. And Reese was okay with that.

The head counselor, Clarisse, seemed... nice enough. She was a little tough, but then, so were all these kids. Normally Reese towered over everybody, with his bulky football build, but here he fit in perfectly.

"Here's your schedule," Clarisse grunted. "Don't mess with the Apollo cabin. When it comes to offering your dinner to him, Dad likes steak best."

Reese bit his lip. He'd sworn not to tell anyone about Ares' disappearance, but it didn't feel right for his brothers and sisters to be in the dark. He, Percy, and Annabeth were still the only demigods to know, although according to Chiron most of the nature spirits and gods knew. But nothing had been done about it.

Why hadn't anything been done about it? Ares was a _god_. They weren't even going after the godnapper. And why hadn't he broken out? He was the god of war, who could contain him?

There were a lot of holes in the story, but it wasn't as if he could do anything about it. He was a brand-new demigod, no training and no authority. Besides, who would help him? Someone who could godnap Ares would squash Reese and any demigods that fought beside him.

It wasn't his place at all to tell the gods what to do. But they _had_ to do something. Or, crazy as it seemed, he would. It was his dad, after all.

"Yo, Percy," he said, pausing at the Poseidon table at dinner. Percy sat alone there, every night, which had to suck. At least Reese had friends at the Ares table.

Percy lifted his goblet, full of something that looked like blue soda, and said, "Hmm?"

"It's that stuff about Ares. I was just thinking..."

"I know, me too. One of my biggest problems with the gods is their complete inability to get things done." Then he glanced at the ceiling nervously. "Although I probably shouldn't go around calling Zeus inept. But anyway, I just... we don't know anything about it. We don't know where Ares is, or why."

"But he's my _dad_. I know I don't really know him at all, and a lot of the campers seem like they don't care about their mom or dad. But I just feel like... what if it was Poseidon?"

That stopped Percy short. "I'd go after him without a second thought. Listen, Reese, I'll talk to Annabeth. Maybe Chiron will give you a quest."

"Thanks. And if he did... would you come with me?"

"Yeah. But with a mission of this scale, we'd probably need more than three people. Chiron might let that rule slide, for something like finding and possibly rescuing a god."

"Thanks, Percy."

"I'll try, okay?"

* * *

><p>And try he did, because at the campfire that night, Chiron pounded his hoof for silence and said, "I have an announcement."<p>

The crowd quieted, the fire turning a curious purple color.

"Ares, god of war, has been missing since last September. I have conferred with the gods, and they have agreed to allow us one quest, one chance to find Ares. All of their attempts have proved fruitless. But perhaps a less conspicuous group will do better."

All of a sudden, everyone was talking about the new quest. Apparently gods didn't go missing very often.

"Now then," Chiron continued. "I believe one of our new campers, Reese, has volunteered to lead the quest, with Percy and Annabeth's assistance. Correct?"

Reese felt the eyes of every camper on him. The idea of going on this quest, possibly dying, terrified him. But he knew he had to do it now. Maybe they'd get lucky. They'd succeed. "Right."

"Normally we would limit a quest group to three, but under the circumstances and the magnitude of this quest, we will allow five campers to leave. Two more volunteers?"

The crowd silenced. These campers were brave, but clearly not brave enough to volunteer for what might well be a suicide mission.

Finally a small Latino girl stood up. "I'll go. Maybe my mom will give us good luck."

"Felicia Ortega, daughter of Tyche, thank you. Report to the Big House tomorrow morning."

Another silence.

Nyssa, the girl who gave Reese directions on the first day, stood up. "I can go too."

"Nyssa Montgomery, daughter of Hephaestus, thank you. Report to the Big House tomorrow morning," says Chiron. "Tomorrow the five of you will be driven into Manhattan. Thank you for your time, everybody. Now, back to the sing-along!"


End file.
